Depending on where an infection is located, your quality of life might change significantly. This is especially the case when there is an infection in the digestive system. Whenever there is any illness, infection, or disease that disrupts the usual happenings of the digestive system, you are going to have to make a few changes to your dietary habits. For example, if you have cholangitis, which is the inflammation of the bile duct system, you will need to make some changes to what you eat. Depending on which type of cholangitis you have, you will have to alter your diet significantly.
Food & Nutrition Diet (Meal Plan) for Cholangitis
#1 Recommended Breakfast Diet for Cholangitis
If you are dealing with primary biliary cholangitis, or PBC, then you are going to want to add a significant amount of fruit to your breakfast and focus on a predominantly anti-inflammatory diet. Just about any fruit is good but for breakfast, strawberries are usually the best. You can also consider a piece of whole-grain toast or bagel as well.
If you are dealing with primary sclerosing cholangitis, or PSC, then you need to focus on a diet that has Vitamins A, D, E, and K. Vitamins D and E are hard to obtain through food so you should instead focus more on A and K. For a breakfast source of Vitamin K, you will want to add some cereal and eggs to your diet. Adding some cheese to your eggs will add some Vitamin A to your diet as well. If you want some more flavor, then you might want to consider adding fruits such as mangos or apricots to your breakfast.
#2 Recommended Lunch Diet for Cholangitis
For PBC, you will want to focus on lean meats, whole grains, and complex carbs. For lunch, this might mean eating some seafood such as salmon, tuna, or sardines. If you would rather not eat seafood, then some brown rice with beans is another type of lunch that you might want to consider.
For PSC, you will have a considerable number of options to choose from. Cauliflower, cabbage, and most other leafy greens are also some vegetable alternatives if you are not in the mood for seafood. As for Vitamin A, you can easily get it out of any food that came from an animal, especially liver. If you would rather have a less meat-centric diet, kale, carrots, and raw sweet red peppers are all sources of Vitamin A.
#3 Recommended Dinner Diet for Cholangitis
When preparing a dinner for PBC, you will still be looking at lean meats and fish. If you really do not want to eat seafood, you can fill your dinner plate with more brown rice and beans. If you want to have a bit of crunch in your meal, then almonds, cashews, and pecans are wonderful nuts to try as long as they agree with you.
A dinner for PSC is going to be easy to prepare as you can easily get Vitamin A through meats and Vitamin K through dark, leafy greens. Whether you want to eat seafood, cheese, chicken, beef, or pork, there’s a very good chance that you will be able to get a good amount of Vitamin A. The best dinner foods for Vitamin K would be spinach, kale, collards, and broccoli.
#4 Recommended Snacks Diet for Cholangitis
The best snack for PBC is definitely going to be nuts. More specifically, nuts that have healthy fats in them are going to play a huge role in anti-inflammatory diets. Some of these nuts would be cashews, almonds, pecans, peanuts, and so on. Consider a trail mix or something similar.
As for PSC, finding an adequate snack is going to be more difficult since Vitamins A and K come from meats and vegetables. You could consider eating some more cereal for a snack if you are in the mood for something less than a traditional snack. Cheese is also a snack to consider, especially shredded cheddar cheese.
#5 Recommended Drinks for Cholangitis
Drinks for PBC are going to be relatively easy as many fruits and vegetables can be juiced. You will want to make sure that you are looking for juices that are more fruit and vegetable than sweetener or anything else. You could also consider coffee as long as it agrees with you and you do not add much sugar or cream to it.
For PSC, finding a drink is going to be difficult. For Vitamin K, vegetable juices, while perhaps not delicious, are a good way to get the nutrients that your body needs. There are a few fruits, such as oranges, mangos, and watermelons, that can easily be made into a juice. This will help you get your source of Vitamin A.
#6 Recommended Herbs for Cholangitis
The main herb you will want to look at for PBC is turmeric. This is an herb that is commonly used as a spice in a number of foods, especially curry. It is a wonderful way to not only improve the health of your body but also add a punch of flavor to your meals.
Unfortunately, there are not nearly as many herbs for PSC. The diet for PSC focuses on foods that either come from animals or are dark, leafy greens or fruits, not so much herbal remedies. However, if there are herbs that curb the pain of PSC, then you might want to look at those.
#7 Recommended Fruits for Cholangitis
In a PBC-focused anti-inflammatory diet, fruits are going to play a huge role. In fact, just about every fruit is one that you should consider for this type of diet. Cherries, raspberries, and blackberries are going to be your main focus for this diet; thankfully, they are easy to come by when they are in season.
In a PSC-focused Vitamin A and K-centric diet, you are going to get your sources of Vitamin A from fruits. There isn’t a lot of Vitamin K in fruits. Mango, cantaloupe, grapefruit, watermelon, and papaya are going to be your biggest sources of Vitamin A, although there will not be much as Vitamin A is found more in vegetables and meats than anywhere else.
#8 Recommended Vitamin/s for Cholangitis
In PBC, the main vitamin you will want to look at is Vitamin K. Vitamin K helps with preventing inflammation as it is one of the vitamins that interacts the most with blood and blood cells. Vitamin K mainly comes from leafy greens and other vegetables.
For PSC, you will also want Vitamin K in addition to Vitamin A, D, and E. Vitamin A improves the immune system and it can easily be found in animal-based meats, especially liver. Be careful with Vitamin A and liver as one slice of beef liver contains over seven times the daily value of Vitamin A. Vitamin D helps with giving your body nutrients and you will mainly get it from the sun. Vitamin E works with the digestive system and you will also want to focus on leafy greens and vegetable oils.
#9 Recommended Mineral/s for Cholangitis
There really aren’t as many minerals for either type of cholangitis that you will need to focus on. Instead, you should make sure that you are getting all the minerals that your body needs by maintaining a well-balanced diet. In some cases, you might need to find mineral supplements if eating a well-balanced diet is difficult for you. You may be advised to take calcium supplements
#10 Discouraged Foods for Cholangitis
For PBC, you will mainly want to avoid saturated fats, sugar, and sodium. These can all mess with your digestive system and especially the bile ducts, which is where cholangitis is located. Healthy fats, natural sugar, and very small amounts of sodium are okay though. Alcohol is something that you should always eliminate with any liver disease.
For PSC, you will mainly want to avoid similar foods. Foods that have high salt, saturated fat, carbs, and added sugars are all foods that you need to stay away from. Similarly, you also need to stay away from raw shellfish as PSC can make you even more susceptible to the bacteria in raw foods. Alcohol is also something that you should avoid.
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